On July 12, 1989, the European Space Agency launched an experimental communications satellite named Olympus-1.

It was the largest civilian telecommunication satellite ever built, and some nicknamed it "LargeSat." It malfunctioned in 1991 and was lost in orbital space for a year before communication was re-established. Then in 1993, it was damaged by a meteor during the Perseid meteor shower and was decommissioned for good.